Theatre chair with spring biased seat



Sept. 15, 1964 s. a. HENDRICKSON 3,148,916

THEATRE CHAIR WITH SPRING BIASED SEAT Filed Feb. 21, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet1 IN V EN TOR.

ATTOR N EYS P 1964 s. B. HENDRICKSON 3,148,916

THEATRE CHAIR WITH SPRING BIASED SEAT Filed Feb. 21, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Sept. 15, 1964 s. B. HENDRICKSON 3,148,916

THEATRE CHAIR WITH SPRING BIASED SEAT Filed Feb. 21, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet3 l6 :Eaib

INVENTOR.

BY eqez fflm 64441 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,148,916 THEATRECHAHK WITH SPRING BIASED SEAT Severin B. Hendrickson, Templeton, Mass,assignor to Heywood-Wakefield Company, Gardner, Mass, a corporation ofMassachusetts Filed Feb. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 90,826 1 Claim. (Cl.297-333) This invention relates to chairs and more particularly to hingemembers for pivotally mounting the seat portion of chairs used intheatres or the like.

' It is common in the construction of theatres to provide seats securelyaflixed to the floor. By employing such permanent seats, several vitaladvantages are secured to the proprietor, among them, certain numberingof the seats and a fixed attractive appearance.

A plurality of permanent seats does, however, present problems,especially where the rows of seats are spaced relatively closely. Onemajor difficulty inherent in such permanent seating arrangements is thatit is usually desirable to pivot the seat portion of the chair upwardlyto permit the easy passage of persons between rows. It is also usuallynecessary for patrons to fold up the sea-tin which they are sitting topermit others to pass by them. It is, therefore, customary to providetheatre seats which, when unoccupied, automatically assume a foldedposition. Seats of this design have several defects as constructed underthe prior art. They frequently fold up with such force that anunpleasant noise is created when Accordingly, it is an object of myinvention to provide a theatre seat incorporating hinges which operatequietly and which employ a simple construction having a min mum ofmoving parts.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide a theatre chairhaving a spring-biased seat pivotably suspended between a pair of fixedstandards, which do not necessarily need to be parallel to each other.The pivotable suspension of the seat is accomplished by means of twohinge assemblies each including a pair of complementary ball-and-socketjoints on either side of the seat, the first of the joints beingdisposed between one of the standards and the seat and the second of thejoints being disposed between the other standard and the seat. Thus, theseat may be pivoted even though all the elements of the complementaryball-and-socket joints are not physically aligned with each other. Thespring biasing of the seat is accomplished through a pair of biasingsprings on either side of the seat, each spring being operative throughits adjacent ball-and-socket joint on a side of the seat. At the sametime, I provide a means for independently adjusting the tension on eachof 'the springs and mechanical stops to limit rotational movement of theseat within adjustable limits.

It is a feature of my invention that the spring-loaded pivot members ofmy chairs provide optimal bearing surfaces regardless of the deviation,within large limits, of the standards from a parallel relationship.

It is another feature of my invention that the tension of the springmeans associated with each pivot member in my chair may be adjustedindependently and easily.

It is a further feature of my invention that assembly and disassembly ofa theatre chair incorporating my hinge is extremely simple.

It is yet another feature of my invention that means are provided forquieting the operation of the hinges of a theatre chair and forselecting the angular distance through which the seat may move.

"ice

These and other objects and features of my invention will appear as thedescription proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a theatre chair, partially broken away,to show a hinge assembly according to my invention;

FIG. 2 is side elevation of a hinge assembly according to my inventionmounted for operation;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mounted hinge of assembly FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-section along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded view of my invention showing the mannerin which the rotatable joint is assembled; 1

FIG. 6 is a vertical section of the mounted hinge assembly of FIG. 2;and

FIG. 7 is an end view of the mounted hinge assembly of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, it may be seen that athreatre chair incorporating my invention comprises a back rest 10rigidly afi'lxed to a pair of standards 12 anda seat 11 pivotablymounted between the standards 12 by means of hinge assemblies 15. Inpassing, it should be noted that the shape and constructional details ofthe back rest 10 and the seat 11 are not critical to my invention,provided only that each of the elements be adapted to connection withthe pair of standards 12. It should also be noted that I have chosen,for simplicity, to show a single theatre chair, it being understood thatmany chairs similar to the one illustrated would ordinarily be mountedside by side to make up rows of chairs in a theatre, the adjacent chairsin each row sharing standards.

Each standard 12 is preferably fabricated as shown in FIG. 2. That is, atubular frame member 14 is bent to a U shaped configuration and a foot16 is afiixed in any convenient way, as by welding, to each end of thetubular frame member 14. Each foot, before assembly to the tubular framemember 14 is stamped, or otherwise worked, to provide bolt holes toreceive a number of bolts 17 to attach the completed standard 12 to afloor 19. A plate-18 is attached, again as by welding, to the tubularframe member 14 to complete assembly of the standard 12. Preferably, theplate 18 is Worked so as to provide the various illustrated mountingholes and tabs in and on the plate 18 before the plate 18 is affixed tothe tubular frame member 14. In addition, an arm rest (not shown) isattached to the tubular frame member 14 in the ordinary case.

One of the hinge assemblies 15 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2 through 7.It will be understood that the hinge assembly not illustrated isidentical to the illustrated one except that the elements thereof arereversed to be adapted to use on the side of my chair opposite to theillus trated hinge assembly 15. Since such adaptation is obvious to onehaving skill in the art, only one hinge assembly will be describedherein for the sake of simplicity of explanation.

A bracket 20, which may be considered to be the base element of thehinge assembly 15, is riveted to the standard 12, as shown. The bracket20 preferably is a stamped metallic element having outwardly extendingfeet 22 (through which the rivets joining the bracket 20 to the plate 18pass), and a pair of converging walls 24 rising from the outwardlyextending feet 2, the outer ends of the inclined walls 24 being joinedby a substantially fiat section 26. A boss 28 is formed centrally of theflat section 26 so that the boss 28 projects a short distance outwardlyfrom the surface of flat section 26. A round opening 30 is punched, orotherwise formed, centrally of the boss 28 and material surrounding theround opening 30 is rolled back through the round opening 30 asindicated by the numeral 32. T e nst-described working of the materialof the bracket surrounding the opening 39 results in the formation of asocket 34 having the opening at its vertex. In passing, it should benoted that I prefer to strengthen my bracket by forming appropriatelyshaped ribs 36, 38 along the edges of the converging walls 24- and thefiat section 26, as shown most clearly in FIG. 4. It will be immediatelyrecognized, however, that the shape and disposition of any strengtheningribs for my bracket may be varied within wide limits. To complete thebracket 20, a bolt'hole as is formed through the fiat section 26adjacent one of the open ends thereof and the opposite open end of theflat section 2t? is cut away so as to form a notch 42 between upper endsof the inclined walls 24, for a purpose to be described hereinafter.

A seat support arm 44 is rotatably mounted on the bracket 29. The seatsupport arm preferably is formed from a fiat piece of metal and shapedto provide a bearing and connecting surface 46 complementary to theparticular seat 11 to be supported. At least a pair of openings 47, 47Aare provided so that screws (not shown) may be used to connect the seat11 to the seat support arm 44-. As is customary, the seat support arm 44is provided with appropriately shaped strengthening ribs 48. A portionof the material of the seat support arm 4d,adja cent one end thereof isshaped, as by stamping, to form a section of a sphere (hereinaftercalled the ball 52). A rectangular opening 54 is formed in anyconvenient manner through the vertex of the ball 52. An arcuate opening56 is formed through the seat support arm 44, the center of curvature ofthe arcuate opening 5s corresponding with the vertex of the ball 52. Asection 58 of the edge of the seat support arm 44 opposite to thearcuate opening 56 is curved, center of curvature of that section alsocorresponding with the vertex of the ball 52. The seat support arm 44further is shaped as shown so as to provide a surface 60 substantiallyperpendicular to the section 58.

It is now obvious that, if the socket 34 and the ball 52 are properlydimensioned, the seat support arm 44 may be placed in rotatablerelationship with the bracket 20 by nesting the ball 52 in the socket34. After the ball 52 is nested in the socket 34, permanent positioningof the two elements is attained by operation of a bearing plate 62 and aball bearing 64, the ball bearing 64 pressing on the inner surface ofball 52 and the bearing plate 64 being attached to the bracket 26). (Aswill be made clear hereinafter, the bearing plate 62 also provides stopmeans for limiting the rotational movement of the seat 11.)

The bearing plate 62 consists of a stamped substantially L shaped pieceof metal having its top end rigidly attached to the bracket Zil by meansof a bolt 66 passing through a bolt hole 68 in the bearing plate 62, thearcuate opening 56 in the seat support arm 44 and the round opening inthe bracket 20. The free end of the bolt 66 is held by a nut '70. Itshould be noted here that a plastic sleeve '72, made for example fromnylon, is slipped over the shank of the bolt 66 and that the width ofthe arcuate opening 56 is greater than the'outside diameter of theplastic sleeve 72. The horizontal portion of the bearing plate 62 is sodimensioned that it slips in the notch 42 in the bracket 20, lips 74, 76being formed in the bearing plate s2 to cooperate with the ends of theconverging walls 24 so as to hold the lower end of the bearing plate 62in place on the bracket 20. A'portion of the bearing plate 62 is formedinto a spherical section 78, preferably a section having the samecurvature as the ball 52. Therefore, after the ball bearing 64 ispositioned between the ball 52 and the bearing plate 62, tightening ofthe nut '79 on the bolt 66 results in the ball 52 being firmly held inposition in the socket 34. Consequently, the seat support arm 44 may berotated with respect to the bracket 26) and standard 12. Since the ball52 and socket 34 together make up a species of ball-andsocket joint andthe plastic sleeve 72 does not ordinarily touch the seat support arm 44,the plane in which the seat arm 44 rotates may be varied within ratherwide limits. This feature, of course, is of great importance even whenit is desired to assemble straight rows of my chairs, since rather largeerrors in positioning of the standards may be tolerated. The importanceof this feature obviously is even greater, if possible, when it isdesired to assemble curved rows of my chairs, as for example in atheatre having a round stage, since identical chairs may be used withoutmodification for such purpose almost independently of the curvature ofthe rows of chairs to be in stalled.

The structure for spring biasing the seat 11 into a raised position willnow be described. A shaft 89 having a rectangular cross-sectioncorresponding to the rectangular opening 54- in the ball 52 is disposedin that opening, one end of the shaft 80 being attached to the ballbearing 64 and the other end of the shaft 80 being notched as at 82 andlying at a point spaced from the plate 18, as shown. The shafts!) passesthrough the round opening 30 but does not touch the bracket 24). (Itshould be noted here in passing that I have implied that the shaft Si)and the ball bearing 64 are'two separate elements. Such an implicationhas resulted solely from the manner in which I have chosen to describethe illustrated embodiment of my invention. In a practical embodiment ofmy invention, 1 have preferred to form the ball bearing 64 and the shaft8) integrally from a single piece of material.) One end of a helicalspring 34 is placed in the notched end section of the shaft 86, thehelical spring being of such length that.

its second end abuts the plate 18. A plurality of locating tabs 86 areformed integral with plate 18 so as to project into the helical spring84 to prevent any sideways movement of the latter element. The free end88 of the helical spring 84 is extended outwardly from the locating tabs85 along the inner surface of the plate 18 passing under a selected oneof a plurality of holding tabs 99.

In operation, the seat 11 is moved to its raised position and thehelical spring 84 is wound so as to provide a force urging the seat 11into such position. end 88 of the helical spring 84 is slipped under oneof the holding tabs 90, thereby allowing the force of the helical spring84 to be transmitted through the shaft 80 and the seat support arm 44 tohold the seat 11 in place. Of course, if it is desired for any reason tochange or adjust the tension of the helical spring 84, the free end ofthe helical spring 84 may be moved to any other one of the tabs 90.

The travel of the seat upwardly preferably is limited so that when anumber of my chairs are arranged in a row, the top of each unoccupiedseat in the row is aligned, regardless of the tension of the helicalsprings in each chair. Limitation of travel is accomplished in theillustrated embodiment by properly selecting the length of the arcuateopening 5% in the seat support arm 44. When the seat 11 is raised to adesired upper limit, the plastic sleeve 72 over the bolt 66 engages theseat support arm 44 at the end of the arcuate opening 56. The use ofnylon, or any other similar material, for the plastic sleeve 72 now isapparent since such a resilient 'material obviously will minimize theamount of noise resulting from sudden stopping of the upward movement ofthe seat support arm :4.

The travel of the seat 11 downward also must be limited so that the seat1 may assume its proper position for occupancy. At the same time, theseat 11 must be capa ble of sustaining the Weight of a person. Boththese functions are attained when the surface 66 on the seat support arm4-4 is moved into contact with the lip 74 on the bearing plate 62.

It will now be apparent to one skilled in the art that many advantagesaccrue from the use of a chair made according to my invention. Forexample, the structural elements of my hinge assemblies need not beaccurately aligned in fixed relationship to each other, sincepositioning of the elements automatically is attained during assembly.Even assembly of my chair is simplified since it is possible to attachmy hinges to chair standards after The free the standards have beenaffixed to a floor. Further, my hinge assemblies are quiet anddependable in operation and require a minimum of maintenance.

It is my intention to claim all modifications and changes of the exampleof my invention herein chosen for purposes of disclosure which do notconstitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A chair comprising, a pair of side standards, a back rest connected toand supported by said side standards, a seat element mounted between andsupported by said standards by means at each standard comprising: a basemember mounted on said standard, a fixed bracket having an apertureextending therethrough mounted on and spaced inwardly from said basemember, a shaft mounted for rotation in said aperture, a spherical headon said shaft at its inner extremity, a torsion spring connected betweensaid base member and the outer extremity of said shaft for controllingthe rotation thereof within said aperture, a support plate for said seatconnected to the side of said seat, a concave hemispherical depressionin said support plate mating with the outer hemisphere of said sphericalhead on said shaft, a flat-sided slot in said support plateconcentrically of said concave depression with said shaft fitting insaid slot, said shaft also having flat sides fitting in cooperatingrelation with said support plate in said slot, and bearing means forretaining said spherical head in said mating relationship with saidconcave hemispherical depression, whereby said spring resists rotationof said shaft and hence rotation of said support plate by springtorsion, also whereby said standards may assume angular positionsdiffering from said seat to accommodate a variety of curved seatingarrangements in auditoriums.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,176,296 Kinner Mar. 21, 1916 1,262,596 Bishop Apr. 9, 1918 1,797,201Vandervoort Mar. 17, 1931 2,215,127 Merrill Sept. 17, 1940 2,455,262Morgan Nov. 30, 1948 2,610,668 Bromagem Sept. 16, 1952 2,828,803 Howe eta1. Apr. 1, 1958 2,971,436 Smith Feb. 19, 1961

